Study Desk

and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.

"But I know your sitting down And your going out and your coming in And your raging against Me.

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.

Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.

"But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend,

"You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

"You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter them; But you will rejoice in the LORD, You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

"The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the LORD, will answer them Myself, As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.

"But when I look, there is no one, And there is no counselor among them Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the LORD?

You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none hears.

But this is a people plundered and despoiled; All of them are trapped in caves, Or are hidden away in prisons; They have become a prey with none to deliver them, And a spoil, with none to say, "Give them back!"

So He poured out on him the heat of His anger And the fierceness of battle; And it set him aflame all around, Yet he did not recognize it; And it burned him, but he paid no attention.

But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!

"Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob; But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.

"But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen:

But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god."

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else.

They stooped over, they have bowed down together; They could not rescue the burden, But have themselves gone into captivity.

"But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day: Loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in full measure In spite of your many sorceries, In spite of the great power of your spells.